


The Space Above Us

by MrToddWilkins (orphan_account)



Series: The Spaceflight Experience [5]
Category: NASA RPF
Genre: F/M, Kistler Aerospace K-1, Kistler RPK-D, Kistler RPK-D2, Lurlene McDaniel References, NASA, Nicholas Sparks References, STS-130, STS-131, STS-132, Soyuz TMA-17, Soyuz TMA-18, Soyuz TMA-19, Training, alternate space history, space walking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 15:15:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MrToddWilkins
Summary: Exactly why Scarlett volunteered for this mission,she didn’t know. But one thing was certain:she would do her damned best to see it work out.





	The Space Above Us

Along a lonely road near Houston zoomed a green 2004 Corolla,its headlights turned low against the early morning light. It had a rather sleek finish to it that would remind you of the ‘80s,when such cars had been common in the Houston area.  Its fenders glowed in the soft light,and windshield was tinted with anti-glare spray. If you had been nearby,you might’ve heard some classical music over its radio:not Bach or Beethoven classical,but more Shostakovich or Borel classical.

At the wheel of the car was Scarlett Byrne,just past her 29th birthday,astronaut candidate for ESA Group 6,one of three members of that group to hail from the United Kingdom. She was a slim girl of medium height,with ash-brown hair that fell past her shoulders and glowing hazel eyes. Her one true pet peeve was lateness,and her favorite sport was soccer. You could often see her playing it at the Gilruth Center,alongside such people as ISS systems engineers,Ellington AFB crew chiefs,and former cosmonauts who had pulled six month stints on the _Mir_ space station.

Today looked to be like pretty much any other day. The space shuttle _Discovery_ had undocked from the ISS yesterday,completing the main objectives of the STS-120 mission:to deliver the _Harmony_ node to the international outpost. A series of five EVAs had connected the new module to its temporary home on the _Unity_ node and relocated a solar array to the main truss of the station. 

———-

Scarlett arrived at JSC at 7:00. The pilots’ meeting was in an hour,so she wandered around. Occasionally someone would hail her with something along the lines of ‘Mornin’,Scarlett”. Being the friendly person she was,she waved.

Soon afterwards,some of the pilots started straggling in.


End file.
